Arabic Recitation Contest at Beirut Arab University Seeking Refuge Safety or Tragedy

The Public Relations Department at Beirut Arab University organized the Arabic Recitation Contest under the auspices and with the attendance of HE Rachid Derbas, Minister of Social Affairs. The event that was held on the 16th of March 2016 was attended by MPs Dr. Imad Hout and Dr. Ammar Houri, Prof. Amr Galal El Adawi, President of BAU, the deans, staff-members, Dr. Omar Houri, BAU Secretary General, as well as BAU directors, Ms. Zina Ariss, Director of Public Relations, and a large crowd of students and the families of the contestants.
The competition was entitled “Seeking Refuge: Safety or Tragedy”, with 17 participants from these universities: BAU, the Lebanese University, AUB, USJ, Universite Antonine, NDU, USEK-Kaslik, the Islamic University and Jinan University. The jury consisted this year of Journalist Salah Sallam, Editor-in-Chief of Al Liwaa Newspaper, Journalist Maggie Farah and Journalist Bassam Barak.
The National Anthem and the BAU Anthem were played, followed by a briefing of the competition rules. Ms. Rima Chehab presented the event, describing the competition as a form of recalling the nightmares suffered by refugees across history.
HE Minister Rachid Derbass next spoke, warning of the dangers that Arab demography is exposed to, in particular because children are targeted. He expressed his regret at what the Arab World has come to, being torn up by bloodshed and destruction. He further argued that the language is the lineage that brings us together, and the means towards dialogue, competing and perfecting.
Prof. Amr El Adawi emphasized that the University is keen on selecting topics that help in revealing the way students think about current issues, in particular in the light of the necessity to preserve Arabic in the face of all challenges.
The 17 contestants next delivered their presentations in Classical Arabic, benefiting from the comments of the jury who asked a number of questions, followed by the final decision. Mahmoud Abou Dalla from BAU won the first place, receiving $3000.-, while Emmeh Zoghaib, from USEK and Ola Hamada from NDU won the second prize of $2000.-. The third prize of $1000.- was won by Ahmed Kurdi from Jinan University. The event concluded with the honouring of the contestants and the jury-members. Prof. Amr El Adawi also presented HE Minister Derbass with an honorary shield.